SHL

18 tests

220 questions

SHL Talent Measurement Solutions are a part of CEB’s talent management services. CEB are the leading member-based advisory company. SHL offers a number of different services, including assessments, in 30 languages and 150 countries worldwide. SHL is one of the biggest test providers in the industry with many of the top 20 graduate employers using them in their recruitment process.

Who are SHL?

SHL are a talent assessment provider with over 40 years experience. They are renowned within the recruitment industry and are highly regarded by most of the top graduate firms. In 2012, a global firm acquired them and since then (and up until 2018), they referred to their assessment tests as CEB tests. In 2018, they began to refer back to the original SHL title and so just be aware that both of these references can be used to refer to the same tests.

Whilst SHL do offer a handful of free tests on their website, the content of the assessments and your performance results are limited. Practice Aptitude Tests provide a comprehensive series of SHL practice test packages that include explained solutions and solving tips to help you improve.

Like most assessment providers, SHL’s tests range in difficulty and skill set. It is important that you understand which tests an employer has asked you to complete, so that you can select the right practice package for you. The type of test you will face will typically be related to the job in hand. Below are the different types of tests SHL have created.

SHL Aptitude Tests

SHL Personality and Behavioural Tests

These types of tests are normally an addition to the recruitment process and help employers gain an insight into your character and temperament. They assess your core values and are useful in evaluating whether there is a synergy between a candidate and the company. It is, therefore, important that you understand the type of characteristics required in order to carry out the role you have applied for. For example, if you were applying for a sales focused role, it would be advisable to demonstrate confidence, assertiveness and ambition.

SHL have two types of tests that fall within this category, and these are outlined below:

1) A personality test comprised of questions that will ask you to choose statements that are most reflective of your personality. The test looks at 32 personality characteristics and will evaluate the most suitable one for you based on your answers.
2) A situational judgement test comprised of tasks that simulate duties to that of the role you are applying for. You will be expected to decide which action to take, from the options given, based on the situation that you are faced with. You can find out more about these types of tests here *insert link
3) A motivational questionnaire that will assess your behaviours, feelings, values and motivations that are relevant to the workplace.
4) An analytic test where you will be given a brief that you will be expected to carefully analyse. With the information provided, you will need to reach a logical conclusion and then present this back to the assessors. Sometimes, you may be asked to produce a report, specifying your recommendations and reasons behind reaching this conclusion.

As mentioned above, SHL also vary their tests according to difficulty, which is based on the level or position you are applying for. Below we have listed these below:

SHL Personnel Test Battery

These tests are typically used for administrative and clerical type roles. There are 12 different test types that fall under this category, and each of them will assess the following:

Processing basic work correspondence

Understanding written information

Basic reasoning skills

Straightforward calculation

Proofreading

Data checking

Handling multiple sources of information and filing it correctly

Graduate and Managerial Tests

These tests can come in two formats:
1) Verify tests, which are completed online and typically sent via email by the employer. They are unsupervised but will typically be followed up with a shorter, supervised version at the assessment centre. They typically include a numerical and verbal reasoning test, with the addition of an inductive, deductive and spatial reasoning test.
2) Management and Graduate Item Bank tests, which are supervised and taken at an assessment centre.
You can become familiar with these tests by selecting our graduate and managerial practice test packages. Each of them will show you clear solutions so that you can review your answers and learn from your previous mistakes.

Senior Managerial Tests

These tests are also split into two formats:
1) Verify tests, which are similar to what is presented in the Graduate and Managerial tests, but will be positioned at a higher level of difficulty.
2) Advanced managerial tests (AMT), which range from numerical and verbal analysis to numerical and verbal reasoning tests.

If you would like further help in improving your SHL test performance, then we recommend you sign-up to one of our practice packages listed at the top of this page.

SHL Verbal Reasoning Tests

Verbal reasoning tests require you to understand and logically work through concepts and problems expressed in words.

There are two types of SHL verbal tests:

1) Verbal Reasoning – these tests measure a candidate’s ability to interpret and analyse a passage of text, and subsequently answer questions in relation to the information provided.
2) Verbal Application – these test measure a candidate’s basic knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, language and spelling.

Both of these test types come in a range of difficulty according to the level of the position you have applied for.

There are other types of verbal tests, which we have outlined below:

Verbal Analysis

Aimed at senior managerial roles, this type of assessment will present written information in the form of reports or high-level documentation. You will be given questions relating to this information and you answers will be in multiple-choice format.

Verbal Comprehension

Aimed at operational staff, this type of assessment will present written information that you will need to interpret and answer questions in relation to the text provided.

Verbal Application

Aimed at senior managers, you will be presented with sentences containing 2-3 missing words. You will be given five answer choices to complete the sentence in question.

True/False/Cannot Say

Aimed at graduates, you will be asked to evaluate the accuracy of a statement relating to the passage provided.

Useful tips

We have put together some useful tips on how to prepare for your Verbal Reasoning test below:

1) Practice! There is only one way to perform well on the day of your test, and that is to practice as much as you can.
2) Research. Find out what type of aptitude test you will be asked to complete, so that you can become familiar to what will be expected of you in advance. Find out as much information on the company you have applied to, so that can show initiative.
3) Join Practice Aptitude Tests! So that you can use our helpful preparation packages to help you succeed.

SHL Inductive / Logical Reasoning Tests

The Verify Inductive Reasoning test is a very popular choice of assessment used at assessment centres. You will be presented with a row of figures consisting of shapes, lines, arrows etc. and you will need to identify the underlying sequence so that you can confirm either the next in series, or the missing pattern.

These types of tests do not present you with verbal or numerical information, but instead with logical patters and shape sequences. They test your ability to think logically and solve complex problems. As such, many people find these tests difficult and without practice, it is common for individuals to score low. We would recommend using online practice tools, such as practice aptitude tests, so that you can become familiar to the format of these assessments and the types of questions you will be presented with. Our packages also come with explained answers so that you can teach yourself the logic behind the answers to the questions, and gradually improve your scores.

We also provide video tutorials, to help introduce you to different question formats and talk through the logic of answers to example questions, within our practice test package.

Practice Aptitude Tests is not associated with SHL. We provide preparation services for SHL psychometric tests. Visit www.shl.com to apply.